Aftermath
by purplecat41877
Summary: Chloe and the turtles have a special meeting.  Sequel to Breakdown.


Disclaimer: Ninja Turtles are not mine but Chloe is. Please do not sue and no flames.

**Aftermath**

Eighteen year old Leo was relaxing on the sofa. His brothers were currently having a meeting with their ten year old friend Chloe Calls.

Leo stood up when Mikey entered the room and noticed that his brother's face was wet. Mikey walked over to Leo and the two of them wrapped their arms around each other.

"I'm still here," Leo said gently.

"I don't want to lose you," Mikey said.

"None of us do," Donny said, entering the room and wrapping his arms around Mikey and Leo who both returned the gesture.

"Where's Raph?" Leo asked.

"Still with Chloe," Mikey replied.

"When Chloe mentioned why she wanted to see us, he broke down," Donny said.

_I wonder if it would have something to do with my trying to jump off the roof a couple nights ago so I could join Splinter,_ Leo thought.

A couple weeks after the turtles turned eighteen, which was about a month ago, Splinter died of pneumonia. The turtles took his death hard but Leo took it the hardest. A couple nights ago, Leo decided to join Splinter. If Raph hadn't stopped him from jumping off the roof, he'd probably be dead.

Mikey, Donny, and Leo heard a throat being cleared and released each other. They saw that Raph and Chloe had entered the room and noticed that their brother's eyes were red and puffy and his masked was soaked.

Leo walked over to Raph who threw his arms around his brother and broke down completely. Leo gently rubbed his brother's shell and rocked him back and forth.

Several minutes later, Leo walked Raph over to the sofa and the two of them sat down. Mikey and Donny sat down on the floor near the sofa and Chloe sat down in a chair.

"Leo, do you know why I called this meeting?" Chloe inquired.

"I'm guessing it has something to do with what I did a couple nights ago," Leo replied.

"Why didn't you let me know that you were still in pain?"

"The others seemed to be moving on and I didn't want to let them know that I haven't."

"We're doing better than we were a couple weeks ago but we have a long way to go before we can finally move on," Donny said.

"Chloe, you mentioned a couple weeks ago that you were worried about us and I didn't want to make you more worried," Leo explained.

"I was worried because none of you would talk about Splinter much after his funeral," Chloe explained. "It's not healthy to hide all that pain and you needed to get it out of your system."

"What can we do?" Mikey asked.

"This," Raph said, handing Leo a photo album containing pictures of the turtles and Splinter.

"Will that work?" Mikey asked.

"We'll find out soon enough," Chloe replied.

Leo carefully looked through the album. When he was done, he put it on the table and suddenly felt numb.

"Donny, is there any way to bring Master Splinter back from the dead?" Leo inquired.

"I'm afraid there isn't," Donny replied regretfully.

"Also, we can't dig him up since he's probably decomposed by now," Chloe explained. "Meaning he's part of the ground."

"So he's really gone," Leo said.

Raph nodded and Leo latched onto his brother and broke down completely. Raph gently rubbed his brother's shell and rocked him back and forth.

"We're here for you," Raph said to Leo. Mikey and Donny stood up and wrapped their arms around Leo and Raph.

"I just need to check on the cats," Chloe said. "I'll be right back."

Chloe walked out of the room. Donny released his brothers, told them he would be right back, and left the room.

* * *

Chloe was in the cat area checking on the cats. Just then, Donny entered the room.

"Didn't you check on the cats about an hour or so ago?" Donny inquired.

"I did," Chloe admitted. "How's Leo doing?"

"Not so good. How about you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You've been having my brothers and I talk about we feel about losing Splinter but I don't remember you mentioning once how you felt."

"I will admit that I miss him."

"Is that why you left the room when you told us he was gone?"

"Actually, I figured that you and your brothers could use some time alone so I checked on the cats and got permission from my grandparents for you and your brothers to live here."

"I see."

"We'd better get back."

Chloe and Donny made sure the cats had everything they needed. Then they left the room.

* * *

In the living room, Leo had fallen asleep in Raph's arms and Mikey had his arms wrapped around him from the back. Just then, Chloe and Donny entered the room and Mikey gently pulled away from Leo.

"Everything all right?" Mikey asked with concern.

"For now," Donny replied.

"The best thing we can do for Leo right now is be here for him," Chloe said.

Chloe, Mikey, and Donny talked for a bit. Eventually, Leo woke up but didn't release Raph.

"Feel any better?" Raph asked with concern.

"For now but I need help," Leo replied.

"Good because we need you," Mikey said.

"Also, we don't want to lose another family member," Donny said.

"We also love you," Raph told Leo. "_I_ love you."

"I love all of you, too," Leo said, his voice breaking.

The turtles wrapped their arms around each other and allowed the floodgates to open. When they released each other several minutes later, they noticed that Chloe was looking out the window.

Donny walked over to Chloe and gently put a hand on her shoulder. Chloe turned around and the two of them wrapped their arms around each other.

"You all right?" Donny asked with concern.

"I really wish I'd gotten to know Splinter more," Chloe replied, her voice breaking.

Donny tightened his hold on Chloe and felt his shoulder getting wet. The two of them released each other several minutes later and Chloe pulled herself together.

"Feel any better," Donny asked with concern.

"Much better," Chloe replied, smiling.

"What are we going to do about Leo?"

"I was thinking that I would talk with him alone and also we could talk as a group."

"That's a good idea," Leo said and Mikey and Raph nodded in agreement.

"We'll do what we can to help," Mikey said.

"We're in this together," Raph said.

The turtles wrapped their arms around each other and squeezed tightly. Then they released each other.

Chloe offered to set up the air bed in the living room. The turtles graciously accepted and went to get pillows and blankets.

* * *

Later that night, the turtles were lying on the air mattress covered in a large blanket. Chloe had gone upstairs a few minutes ago so she could go to bed.

The turtles chatted for a while. Then they snuggled up together and fell asleep.

The End


End file.
